The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1887-09-10
FERDINAND WARD.
How the Notorious Bank-Wrecker Occu-
pies His Time at Sing Sing.


Ferdinand Ward, perhaps the most
noted prisoner of all, a curious COM
pound of shrewdness and weakness,
unlimited cheek and with no conscience
nor principles, achieved some rare
rogueries in which he was not solely to
blame. His vanity led him to take
leading part in 1.-THE most prominent
indeed-and, as it rolled on and on,
like some enormous SNOWFALL, always
getting bigger, it grew out of all con-
troll and beyond his comprehension. 1t
was a matter of days only when it
would end, and his efforts were at last
all directed toward tiding over each
hour, not to arranging the final catas-
trophe, which was left to take care of
itself. The amount of business done
by Grant & Ward through the clearing
house was 1862, 600, 900, figure repre-
senting also about one-quarter of the
national debt of the United States.
The man who managed all this now
works in shabby little prison-room
containing shabby printing outfit,
with which he strikes off very shabby
letter and bill-heads for the prison. 1t
isn't work to speak of, it is not under
the unrelaxing watchfulness in which
other prisoners toll, but it is widely
different from a seat in the directory of
the Marine Bank or desk in the private
office of the once much envied, young
and enterprising firm of Grant &
Ward. The active partner wears stripes
of coarse wooden fabric, but they fit
him neatly. His boots are polished
and shapely, and he looks pretty well
groomed. Ward is not man to suffer
much in imprisonment. His fibre is not
fine enough for that, his temperament
is sanguine and his ambitions. unqual-
flied by the character of their aims,
crafty themselves in small struggles
as readily as with great ones.
His life in prison has not been an
easy one. He thought that money
could secure him immunity from all its
hardships, but if it could in any way
soften the asperities of prison life il
had to be applied with more tact than
he brought to its application. Unfor-
tunately for him, he expressed his
views. The methods adopted to con-
| vince him of his error were prompt and
| stern, but it was some time before
| they were effective. At first he was
put to work dragging ashes from under
a boiler. 1t was hot, hard work, but he
was kept to it for several weeks. Then
the Bay State Shoe Company secured
| his services as book-keeper one Monday
and found him ridiculously incompetent
ON Tuesday. In youth he had been an
amateur journalist, and had some idea
of setting type, and this fact has di
rected the current of his life in prison.
The firm of Perry & Co., stove makers
enjoyed a large contract at that time
and had need of blanks, bill-heads ant
labels. They set Ward to work tread
ing the press with which these were
struck off. When Perry e. Co. wer,
legislated out of their position as con
tractors, Ward and his printing offic,
became an appendage of the prison
He can do all the work required of hin
in an hour each day. The rest of hi
time he spends in reading and in sucl
idle ways as he can find diverting
Even the fact that he is the most no
torious prisoner in the community o
1000 rascals is source of pride ant
satisfaction to him, and he courts the
curious regard which visitors so rcadil,
grant him, and basks in the observa
ton of the crowds which flock int,
prison on holidays.
He enjoys newspaper notoriety, too
The fact that most of the publication
relating to his life in prison have beef
far from complimentary serves perhap
to check his enjoyment of them, bu
not to destroy his pleasure in the fac
that he is still before the public. Hi
inordinate vanity is beyond shame, and
selfish and envious, he has easily be
come the most unpopular man il
prison, not only among the convicts
but with the keepers, who regard hin
as an unmitigated nuisance and do no
fail to let him know it. Still, there ar
good qualities about Ward. He accept
his snubs--and there are many bestowe,
with unvarying good nature. He i
clipper and good-tempered under al
conditions and has no apprehension
for the future. He still has matters il
litigation, and Bourke Cochran, hi
counsel, is a frequent visitor. Hi
wife has considerable property, hous
in Stamford and hotel Splendid
furnished on the Connecticut river, be
tween Hartford and Saybrook. Thi
hotel, although small one, is YER
luxurious affair, filed with hard WOO
throughout and all sorts of luxuries no
to be found in the average summe
establishment. - Cor. Philadelphia
Press.
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